Category Archives: Innovation

Does “process” kill innovation?

Posted on October 8, 2019 by Eugene Ivanov

Reading Steve Blank is always a pleasure. Not only is he among the world’s best scholars of corporate innovation; his ability to explain complex things in a simple language is unparallel. Blank’s recent HBR piece, “Why Companies Do ‘Innovation Theater’ … Continue reading →

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A confession of open innovation manager

Posted on September 20, 2019 by Eugene Ivanov

Over the years, I’ve worked with many companies that tried to apply open innovation approaches to solving their problems. Some of them have succeeded, some have failed—with the rest falling in between. But there was one common feature that all … Continue reading →

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Measuring innovation, one patent at a time (or all of them at once)

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Eugene Ivanov

Measuring innovation is tough. To begin with, innovation is rooted in creativity—and measuring creativity isn’t straightforward, to say the very least. Besides, innovation is about transforming creativity into value—and measuring value isn’t easy, either, even if you measure it in … Continue reading →

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The Crucial Role of Marketing in Innovation

Posted on March 16, 2019 by Eugene Ivanov

There is a common misconception that innovation and marketing are two separate concepts when it comes to business. However, if you analyze it, you will see how successful game-changing technologies have used marketing to promote their product and create customer … Continue reading →

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A board game

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Eugene Ivanov

Blaming the CEOs for all real and imaginable transgressions is a common thing these days. I’m not an exception myself: on more than one occasion, I argued that all major problems of the corporate innovation process stem from the lackluster … Continue reading →

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Freedom to innovate

Posted on July 22, 2018 by Eugene Ivanov

In one of my recent posts, I listed specific socioeconomic factors that favor or obstruct corporate innovation. Some of them, such as termination or compensation policies and the way organizations treat their employees, are in full control of the organizations … Continue reading →

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Broken bone, anyone? “Crowdsourcing in reverse” on accidental injuries extends deadline!

Posted on July 8, 2018 by Eugene Ivanov

This is a guest post written by Dr. Benjamin Missbach (benjamin.missbach@lbg.ac.at), Project Manager at the Open Innovation in Science Center (Vienna, Austria) and a driving force behind the “Tell Us!” project. People suffer accidents, right? In fact, many people around … Continue reading →

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A sober truth about drunk people

Posted on June 17, 2018 by Eugene Ivanov

Harvard Business Review is a serious periodical not known for publishing frivolous content. Yet the tone of one of its features, “Professor X, defend your research,” in the latest (May-June 2018) issue, was far from academic. Defending his research was … Continue reading →

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Innovation: for and against

Posted on April 28, 2018 by Eugene Ivanov

I like Jeff Bezos’ line: “Good intentions don’t work, mechanisms do.” To me, it sounds like a full support of my conviction that endless talks about establishing a “culture of innovation” is a distraction, rather than an enabler, in fostering … Continue reading →

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Innovation “quid pro quo”: firms that treat workers better are more innovative

Posted on March 22, 2018 by Eugene Ivanov

In my previous post, I described studies showing that giving stock option grants to both executive and non-executive employees fosters innovation, which points to the important role compensation plays in defining corporate innovation performance. However, compensation is only one factor … Continue reading →

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